8 miners feared to be dead, dozens of others injured in an explosion

General News of Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Source: Starrfmonline.com

2019-01-23

It is feared the death of at least eight small miners and several miners would have been injured in a disaster that occurred Wednesday morning in Gbane, a community in the east of Talensi district.

A few minutes after five bodies were removed from a mine shaft at the site of the last disaster, an eyewitness stated that two victims were transported to the Upper East Regional Hospital before five more bodies were found in the area. a tunnel.

"The incident occurred around 3:10 am before dawn today (Wednesday), after the people of Shaanxi blew up their explosives. The artisbad miners were in their pits when the people of Shaanxi exploded and the smoke smothered the miners. Two died at the regional hospital and one at Datuko. At present, five bodies are lying on the ground and foam is coming out of their mouths and noses, "said the witness.

He added, "And while I'm talking to you, two people are also being taken to the hospital. They are very weak. "

Subsequently, Robert Tampoare, acting president of the Ghana Small Scale Miners Association, promised to prevent "Shaanxi Mining Company Ltd. from killing our people.

"It's so sad that I talked to the government, the Minerals Commission, and the Shaanxi Inter-Ministerial Task Force on Hazardous Work. Tongo Rana said that he "supported Shaanxi [because] they do a good job. "

"We will not sit back and watch this one again. We will hold a press conference tomorrow (Thursday). If the government and the minerals commission do nothing, we will not allow Shaanxi to continue killing our people. We will go out to face Shaanxi. It's so sad, "said Mr. Tampoare.

Shaanxi is not responsible for misadventures – PRO

At the same time, Shaanxi Mining Ghana Ltd has denied any responsibility, the mourners at the Wednesday disaster site still counting casualties.

"I received a call, around 1 am, that some people had been brought to the regional hospital and others to the Afrikids Medical Center by a man named Kofi Macho and another Bantama Kwesi. They say they inhaled gases during their operations. So, I asked if it was our staff and they answered "no".

"They are not our staff. Most of these things happen on the blind side of our own operations. But because we are very close to them, they usually use us as a convenient alibi when such accidents occur. It was in their own operations that this happened. When we arrive at the hospital, we can determine who brought who, how much did the person bring in, what time and where did she work? At least that should help the public to know the truth and the facts. It is very clear that the victims are not our staff, "said Maxwell Wooma, public relations manager for Shaanxi.

According to sources, 15 people were admitted as a result of the horror midweek.